He raised his head and swallowed. Pain in his throat. Hell. You cannot get sick. What will happen if you get sick? You know what.

In the hall, he opened his locker and crammed in his history book. Students passing him. Talking and laughing. Some in groups and others alone. Lunchtime. If he went out to the parking lot, he might sleep for maybe twenty minutes in the Caprice. He turned and headed for the doors. You just need some rest. A little nap. That’s all.

“… prettiest thing I ever saw.”

Luke Stoddard stood by the lockers with his back to Jack. A senior. Quarterback. Talking sweet nothings to some girl. He wore tight jeans and a ball cap with the bill cupped so it lay over his eyes. He had a reputation for his touchdowns on and off the field.

“I could take you places,” Luke was saying. “Show you around.”

Jack kept walking, but when he saw the girl he stopped. She stood there, holding her books to her chest with no expression at all on her face. Mostly it was her eyes that stopped him. They were like looking into deep water. At once glistening and dark. Far down in those depths, something flashed and disappeared as if swallowed. Jack knew that flash.

Luke moved closer to her. “You’re kind of a shy one, aren’t you?”

Jack stood a little off to the side, watching. The girl dropped her books. Papers drifted and scattered, and Luke laughed. The girl didn’t move. Her hands were clenched at her sides.

Luke reached out to touch her cheek. He was slightly bent over when she raised her arm and jabbed down with knee-jerk quickness and, in the same motion, dropped her hand. It was something Jack felt more than saw. The pencil stuck out at an angle from Luke’s forearm.

Luke recoiled sharply. He looked at his arm, gulping air, and yanked the pencil out and dropped it. A splotch of red expanded on his sleeve. He was choking on his own gasps.

She stared at him. Still as a stone. The pencil lay at her feet.

He shoved her against the locker. “Bitch!”

“Leave her alone,” Jack said.

When Luke turned, he saw Jack standing there, quiet. “What?”

“Leave her alone.”

Luke’s breaths slowed. He spread his feet and smiled. “Josh Dahl. Or Jack. Right? What do you want?”

“I said what I want.”

“You did.”

Jack didn’t answer.

Luke looked at the girl and looked at Jack. “Do you know who I am? Because I’m not somebody you really want to mess with.”

“I know you,” Jack said.

Luke flushed. A few kids had stopped and stood watching. The girl said nothing. She hadn’t moved at all. She might have been mute for all Jack knew.

“How’s your daddy, Jack?” Luke said. “How’s he doin’? You see him much?”

Jack waited and didn’t answer.